Editorial: What to do with immigrants

I am an immigrant. In 1993, I immigrated from New Mexico to Texas to attend college. Most people here were kind to me, but there were some who never let me forget I wasn’t from Texas. They also never let me forget what they thought of people from New Mexico. It wasn’t kind. And these were Christians, Baptists no less.

I can only imagine how I might have been treated had I come across the southern border instead of the western. Actually, no, I don’t have to imagine. I’ve seen it and heard it. Even among Baptists in Texas.

The devaluing and demeaning of immigrants by professing followers of Jesus must stop. It is undignified. It is beneath a follower of Jesus. And it is to mock the Creator in whose image every immigrant is made—regardless how an immigrant came into the United States. We can do much better than that.

If you’ve followed the news since Sept. 14, you probably know what sparked this editorial. In case you haven’t—and not everyone follows the news—here’s a summary.

Immigrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard

On Sept. 14, about 50 Venezuelan immigrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy and largely Democrat island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. They were enticed with promises of jobs and shelter in Boston. The two chartered flights—paid for by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—never landed in Boston.

While this latest “migrant relocation” struck a nerve even among immigration hawks, it is a natural progression of what Florida, Texas and Arizona governors have been doing for months—busing immigrants to Democrat-led cities.

These governors have the support of a majority of their states, as well as Republicans nationwide. Support isn’t universal, however. What’s more, this latest action may have involved criminal elements, generating an investigation by Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

This is just the most recent background for this editorial. Followers of Jesus have even deeper and older background that must inform our response to immigrants, regardless what government policy may be.

Immigration by the Bible

First and foremost, immigrants are no less created in the image of God than you and me. This is a bedrock principle on which all other treatment of immigrants stands.

A very close second is Jesus gave his life for immigrants no less than he gave his life for you and me, because God loves immigrants no less than God loves you and me.

The Bible gets more specific and actually commands specific treatment of “foreigners,” “strangers” or “sojourners.”

Twice in Exodus, God commands the Israelites: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him” (Exodus 22:21). “You shall not oppress a stranger” (Exodus 23:9).

Leviticus 19:33-34 reads: “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.”

Deuteronomy 27:19 reads: “Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien (NASB).” Or: “Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner” (ESV).

These commands never were abrogated. Instead, they were solidified in Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, followed by his two parables about the Good Samaritan and the least of these.

This is just a portion of what the Bible has to say about immigrants.

Government policy doesn’t always follow the Bible, but a Christian must.

What Christians mustn’t do

It’s often easier to say what Christians mustn’t do than what we should do.

Christians must never use immigrants. Immigrants are people. We use things, not people.

Christians in government—Republican, Democrat or otherwise—must never use immigrants to make political points. Christians must not support, defend or encourage such use of people. One way I’ve heard Christians encourage or defend the flights to Martha’s Vineyard is with derogatory jokes about the residents of the island.

By spreading and laughing at such derogatory jokes, Christians have demeaned immigrants along with people with whom they disagree, and they have mocked the Christ they proclaim.

We can’t operate only in the negative, though. We also must step into the positive—what we can and should do.

What Christians can do

In the United States, Christians are able to influence government and society through direct communication with elected officials and through voting. We can and should do that, but that’s easy.

We also need to do the hard things. We need to encourage, support and defend human flourishing here and abroad. We already do this through careful mission and humanitarian work. By careful, I mean it is not paternalistic or exploitive. We need to do more.

We can learn from and participate with organizations such as Evangelical Immigration Table and National Immigration Forum. Both are centrist organizations that value the balance of law and grace.

Harder still, we can get involved in immigrants’ lives. I didn’t just get to meddling. I’ve been meddling since the first paragraph.

Getting involved in immigrants’ lives requires at least two things: letting go of fear and rejecting a scarcity mindset. Neither one of those will excuse us when we answer to God for how well we followed Scripture’s commands regarding immigrants.

Here again, we can and should learn from people already involved in immigrants’ lives. City Church in Del Rio and Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen are just two examples.

We don’t have to wait for our government to sort out immigration policy to care for immigrants. Instead, we can care for people who come to us, regardless why they came or how they got here. God expects nothing less.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those solely of the author.